PORT TOWNSEND — Drivers along South Discovery Road and Thomas Street in Jefferson County will find lower speed limits on specific stretches of those roads in the coming weeks after a Jefferson County commissioners vote this week.
Commissioners voted 3-0 Monday to lower the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph on a 0.2-mile stretch of Thomas Street just south of the city limit.
The speed limit will be decreased from 40 mph to 35 mph on a 1-mile portion of South Discovery Road from the intersection with Cape George Road north to Snagstead Way.
Both sections of county road are crossed by the Larry Scott Trail, the only completely paved, dedicated section of the larger Olympic Discovery Trail in Jefferson County.
“As one who rides his bike on the Larry Scott Trail and crosses Thomas Street, I am supportive of this,” Commissioner Phil Johnson said before the vote.
Commissioners held a public hearing before the vote. No members of the public testified.
Jefferson County Engineer Monte Reinders said county public works staff will install new speed limit signs in the coming weeks, work that Reinders doesn’t expect to impede traffic.
Reinders said the segment of Thomas Street just north of Mill Road is 35 mph between two stretches of 25 mph to the north and south, an inconsistency county engineers recommended changing.
“It just makes sense to be consistent with surrounding road systems,” Reinders said, adding that the Larry Scott Trail crossing along this stretch also was taken into account.
For the 1-mile portion of South Discovery Road, county engineering staff produced a traffic investigation study after analyzing reported wrecks, traffic volume and the course of the road.
According to the report, which analyzed traffic data between November 2012 and April 2013, some 85 percent of cars and trucks drive at 49 mph or below along this stretch of South Discovery Road, 9 mph faster than the posted speed limit.
“It’s an indication of what people do, not an indication of what’s appropriate,” Reinders said.
The report said these speeds make it dangerous for walkers, bicyclists and horseback riders on the Larry Scott Trail to cross the road.
The average annual daily traffic load for this portion is 1,193 vehicles per day, according to the report.
Additionally, the report found this road segment has a crash rate of 2.3 crashes per 1 million miles per year, a rate that exceeds other stretches of South Discovery Road and the countywide average of 1.26 crashes per 1 million miles per year.
This higher crash rate appears to be associated with a curve near the center of the 1-mile stretch, according to the report.
This portion of South Discovery Road has seen five wrecks between 2007 and 2012, three of which were near the curve at the stretch’s midpoint, according to the report.
In addition to the speed limit changes, county commissioners also set 25 mph as the speed limit for five residential roads in a newly built housing development southeast of Port Hadlock.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
